Ever wanted to be in charge? Well, in my own little world I will be, one day. Just not quite yet. I'm a bit tired at the moment... maybe I'll take over after I've had my little nap.
The United Dingdom - stating the bleeding obvious so you don't have to.
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Saturday, 29 October 2016

Red & Blue

An infographic appeared on social media in the run up to
the US presidential election, showing how the map would look if only certain
groups voted. With red for Republican and blue for Democrat (which
always looks wrong) it is not surprising that the intentions of certain groups show
polar opposites in colour scheme. The map for ‘persons of colour’ is entirely
blue, whereas that for ‘white men’ is almost entirely red. Overall it isn’t
particularly illuminating except for one obvious thing; the groups perceived to
be disadvantaged all turn to the big, blue party of state. What a shame, then,
that state intervention in social affairs generally tends to make things worse.

There is something persuasive about the idea that the
strong help the weak. Maybe because it works in groups who have reason to club
together – families, interdependent settlements, etc – it is tempting to
believe it can work in wider society. But really, what is my incentive to
support you, who I don’t know from Adam and have nothing in common with, unless
it is to deter you from turning to crime and violence to take what I have
worked for? That isn’t a welfare state, it is a protection racket. Oh dear, Mr
Taxpayer, we wouldn’t want you to have an ‘accident’ now, would we?

How do those who promote all-pervasive socialistic
meddling in the affairs of the population sell the idea to its client voter
base? How do you get people who at heart have the same drives as those they
would rob? You warp the notion of fairness to include entitlement without
effort. You discredit the idea of ‘bettering yourself’ insisting that mediocre
is good enough. You push the agenda of equality, insisting despite all the
evidence that all people have equal worth and therefore are deserving of equal
outcomes. But most of all you must paint all who don’t share your vision as
somehow evil.

Just as social media has devalued superlatives, such that
the lamest of jokes causes people to say they can’t breathe, or that they are in
actual tears of laughter, hyperbole must be employed at every turn. It is not
enough to have a debate and present an alternative view; shouting ‘you lie!’ is
now sufficient to declare that you have ‘destroyed’ the opposition or merely
repeating your own poorly presented argument without relevance constitutes ‘owning’
the other side. Into this disturbed and easily persuaded ocean of credulity it
is a simple matter to portray all who disagree as Hitler.

Into this confused state of affairs enter one well-known
agitator for failed solutions, Ken Loach, demonstrating that with a bit of
effort one can sustain gullibility long beyond the age when wisdom ought to
have displaced your juvenile leanings. I, Daniel Blake has had mixed reviews,
divided pretty much along the same social lines that would paint a national map
monochrome blue or red. I won’t be seeing the film. I don’t need to. I’ve lived
adjacent to it and seen it all before. The chaotic lives people live and their
detachment from the political process and the way they can gleefully accept the
mantle of victimhood and become performing seals for the left-wing circus.
Controlled and cajoled by promises that in a century have never been delivered.
Duped by promises of a better life hereafter, who is really manipulating their
map?